My Lords, In Committee, a desire was shown for more detail on the pilot: when it will happen, how long it will last and when the results will be reported. A demand-side response—short-term load shifting—is already part of our plans for a capacity market. The Government’s preference is that electricity demand reduction—permanent reductions in demand through the efficient use of electricity—can also join the capacity market in the future. However, given the uncertainties around a financial incentive for efficiency and its operation in the capacity market, we intend to pilot this approach before drawing conclusions. This work is a priority and, since Committee, the Secretary of State has announced the availability of at least £20 million for the pilot, which is expected to start in summer 2014 and run for around two years.
There have been calls to provide assurances that information on the outcome of any electricity demand reduction pilot would be provided to Parliament. In line with best practice, it was already the Government’s intention to report the results of the pilot. However, in order to reassure the House, I am moving this amendment so that reporting the results of the pilot to Parliament becomes a statutory requirement. That will be done as soon as practicable after the results of the pilot are available. I beg to move.